Page 5 - Empowerment and Protection - Ukraine Chapter

DGE)
way residents define their security, as the region has been a hot spot for Ukrainian identity politics. It is
a majority Russian region with a strong influence
of both Russian nationalist groups and communists, and also hosts the Crimea Tatars. In contrast to local Russians, the Crimea Tatars vote consistently for Ukrainian liberal nationalist parties and continue to fight for recognition as an indigenous people
and for compensation for the losses incurred in the aftermath of their collective deportation in 1944. In contrast to Kyiv, the perception of political others as a source of insecurity was characteristic of interviewees in Simferopol. These included people of different political beliefs and often of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The Crimea Tatars or Western Ukrainians were held
in contrast to the ethnic Russians, referred to as ‘pro-Russian separatists’ by local Ukrainians. One NGO activist’s sense of insecurity was related to the feeling of being a political ‘other’ when openly expressing his pro-European views. Conversely, an
b Cossacks historically have been associated with the rise of both Ukrainian and Russian identity and nationalism. The Cossack revivalist movement received strong official support in post-Soviet Russia. Most neo-Cossack groups in modern Ukraine, particularly in Crimea and eastern regions, are offshoots of this pan-Russian revivalist movement, whereas others have local Ukrainian roots and are based mainly in Western and Central Ukraine. Cossack revivalists have formed paramilitary groups, wearing uniforms with whips and maintaining horses. In Crimea, pro- Russian neo-Cossacks have been involved in conflicts with the local Tatar population.
Ukraine
Perspectives on security
The reflections shared in the following sections were collected through interviews carried out in late 2013 in Kyiv in the
initial, nonviolent stages of the Euromaidan protests, and in the Crimean capital of Simferopol before it was annexed by Russia. as such, they cast light on some of the domestic conditions that provide the backdrop for the eventual political crisis. The perspectives highlight citizens’ perceptions of and experiences with security in their own words, grouped here into the most frequent categories of threats highlighted by those interviewed.
nikolai is a 70-year old-man who works as a car parking security guard in Simferopol. He is a Communist Party member and vividly recalls life under communism.
a very serious threat, even greater than the Tatar issue, [is] intimidation and the issue of neo-nazism, even here in Crimea, in Simferopol. for example,
in a house across the street there is a Cossack.b
He goes out with his whip and snaps it loudly and ostentatiously. He shows off his ‘abilities’ – be afraid of us, the Cossacks. He frightens people. [as for] the fascist tough guys of Tiahnybok [the Ukrainian nationalist party] – we have to deal with them at public rallies. When we would march [as a column
of workers] and quietly conduct our rally at the alley of Heroes [commemorating those who died, many
of them Russian, defending the city in World War II], they come out with their flags and fascist symbols. They aren’t afraid of anything. How could the state and the government allow the fascists to march by our holy places? Confrontation is brewing. If they raise their heads again, people won’t let them. We won’t stand on ceremony with them.
I see a danger in alcohol abuse, especially in the young people. our children, our grandchildren, our future, are starting to behave immorally. our children do not know what the state is, what the motherland is, or how sacred it is. This is what frightens me.
The young people are not being engaged – we can’t make anything out of them. They have nowhere to show their worth – no Bamc, no great construction sites. They have nothing to occupy themselves with. We have people who have lived until the age of 40 without ever working one day. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Under socialism, we knew that we were going to be provided for in our old age, we would have social protection. now, one can’t live out of his pension normally. no guarantees, no confidence in the future.
c The Baikal–Amur Mainline is a broad gauge railway of over 4,000 km traversing Siberia and the Russian Far East and was widely publicised as a construction project of the century during the USSR.
ffffffLD BANK 2014A)
Sources of insecurity
Crimea and identity politics
Interviews in Crimea, taken before the peninsula’s
annexation by Russia, demonstrated that politics or
32 SToRIES of HUman SECURITY | Ukraine
politically motivated prejudices play a role in the
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
=10.000.000